Average house price in Canada rises 8% to $391,820

Both the number of homes sold in Canada and the average selling price rose sharply in October, with the average hitting $391,820.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said the number of homes sold in October was 8.3 per cent higher in 2013 than it was in the same month a year earlier.

So far this year, a total of 402,299 homes have traded hands across the country. That's just 0.2 per cent below levels recorded in the first 10 months of 2012. After rising every year until 2008, annual home sales have been pretty steady since then.

The $391,820 average rose 8.5 per cent from last year. But CREA notes that if the large, active markets of Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary are removed from the equation, the average price increased by 4.9 per cent.